Vajrasattva Sadhana
The following describes a Vajrasattva Sadhana:
On the crown of one’s head, visualise a lotus seat.
Resting on this is a luminous moon-disc upon which is seated Vajrasattva, the form of all the Buddhas, facing in the same direction as oneself.
He is the manifestation of the Buddha’s power of purification and his radiant pure white colour symbolises the Buddha’s purity.
He has one face and two hands. In the right hand he holds the Vajra which signifies Upaya, great compassion, and in the left he holds the bell representing Pragya, great wisdom which, like the two wings of a bird, must work in unison for the attainment of enlightenment.
He is adorned with beautiful ornaments and clad in silken garments.
To symbolise his energy and power of action, his appearance is youthful and dynamic.
Seated in the Vajra posture, he looks down upon one with compassion.
Having made this visualisation, one:
(a) Takes refuge,
(b) Generates the Bodhicitta,
(c) Recites the first six verses of the Seven Limb Puja, and
(d) Dedicates the merit at the end.
Refuge and Generation of Bodhicitta
“I go for refuge to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the supreme community until the attainment of enlightenment. By the merit gained from my practice of generosity and other perfections, may I attain the state of a Buddha for the sake of all sentient beings.”
Prostrations
“As many atoms as there are in the thousand million worlds, so many times do I make reverent salutation to all the Buddhas of the three times, to the Dharma, and to the excellent community. I pay homage to all the shrines and places where the Bodhisattvas have been and make profound obeisance to the teachers.”
Offerings
“Just as Manjushri and other Bodhisattvas make offerings to the enlightened beings, so do I make offerings to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas so that I may develop the Bodhicitta.”
Confession
“In this beginning-less samsaric state, in this life and in other lives, I have committed unfitting and unskilful actions or caused others to do so. Being confused by ignorance, I have even taken pleasure and rejoiced in these non-virtuous actions. By confessing this to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas with a pure state of mind, I open my heart and expose all my faults, applying the four opponent powers. The harmful mistakes which I have committed through ignorance and foolishness, mistakes in the world of everyday experience as well as in understanding and intelligence, all these I admit to the enlightened beings. What is not good, O Buddhas, I will not do again.”
Rejoicing
“I rejoice in the compassionate deed of giving happiness to sentient beings. I rejoice in the deeds of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in granting peace to sentient beings. I rejoice in their ocean-like wish to give permanent happiness to all beings.”
Requesting the Buddhas to Turn the Wheel of the Dharma
“Saluting them with folded hands, I entreat the Buddhas in all the quarters to light the lamp of the Dharma for those obscured by the darkness of suffering.”
Request for the Stability of the Buddha’s Physical Manifestations
“With hands folded in reverence, I implore the Buddhas desiring to enter Parinirvana to remain here for endless ages so that life in this world does not grow dark.”
Then, the white letter HUM appears on a luminous moon-disc in the heart of Vajrasattva. The white letters of the Mantra stand clockwise around the HUM, and from each syllable flows a fountain of nectar. Each produces its own sound and radiates light. At this stage, we make the following request:
“O Bhagavat Vajrasattva, I request you to purify and cleanse myself and all sentient beings of our harmful deeds, our delusions, and the transgressions we have committed against our vows.”
When this request has been made, the HUM in Vajrasattva’s heart emits rays of light which wash away the harmful deeds and delusions of all sentient beings who then make offerings which delight the Buddhas and their sons. All the supreme accomplishment of these enlightened beings are collected in the form of light which is reabsorbed into the HUM, so that Vajrasattva becomes an accumulation of brightness, power and force.
“OM VAJRASATTVA SAMAYA, MANU PALAYA, VAJRASATTVA TENOPA TISHTA, DRIDHO ME BHAVA, SUTO SHYO ME BHAVA, SUPO SHYO ME BHAVA, ANURAKTO ME BHAVA, SARVA SIDDHI ME PRAYACCHA, SARVA KARMA SUCA ME, CITTAM SHRIYAM, KURU HUM, HA HA HA HA HO BHAGAWAN, SARVA TATHAGATA, VAJRA MAME MUNCA, VAJRI BHAVA MAHA SAMAYA SATTVA, A HUM PHAT.”
While reciting the Mantra distinctly at moderate speed and volume, visualise the nectar from the letters of the Mantra filling Vajrasattva’s body. They then enter one’s body through the top of the head, expelling all mental and physical impurities in the form of impure water, scorpions, spiders and other black matter. These leave the body by the lower orifice and enter the earth which cracks and absorbs all the defilements.
“Through my ignorance and delusion, I have transgressed and damaged my vows; O Guru, protector, be my refuge! In the lord, holder of the Vajra, whose essence is the great compassion, in the lord of beings, I take my refuge.”
Then, Vajrasattva speaks:
“O son of the family, all your harmful deeds, defilements and transgressions against your vows are purified and cleansed.”
When he has spoken these words, he is absorbed into ourselves and we become endowed with his qualities of body, speech, and mind.
Dedication of Merit
“Having thus acquired all these merits and having done all these skilful actions in the past and present, empower me to lift the veil of suffering from all sentient beings. May the merit gained by my acting thus go to the alleviation of the suffering of all beings. My personalities throughout my existences, my possessions and my merits, in all three ways I give up without regard for myself. Just as the earth and other elements are serviceable in many ways to the infinite number of beings inhabiting limitless space, so may I become that which maintains all beings so long as all have not attained peace”.
Four Opponent Powers
There are four opponent powers which must be applied so that the purification of non-virtues may be effective.
(a) The power of repentance
If one has mistakenly taken poison, one will feel great regret at having done so. Instead of remembering and enumerating useless items from our past as we are prone to do, we should endeavour to remember the unskilful actions performed in this and in previous existences and develop strong and sincere repentance.
(b) The power of the decision not to repeat such actions
If one has eaten something harmful, naturally one will resolve to avoid doing so again. We should make the decision to refrain from such unskilful actions even at the cost of our own life. If, however, we feel too weak to make this ultimate commitment immediately, we should gradually build and reinforce our resolution day by day.
(c) The power of the object of refuge
We must take refuge, entrusting ourselves to Vajrasattva as the manifestation of all the Buddhas, and develop Bodhicitta. If you trip and fall you use the ground as a support to help you stand up again. All unskilful deeds are committed against the Triple Gem and sentient beings, so to purify the seeds of these actions we must turn for refuge to the Three Jewels and cultivate Bodhicitta for the sake of all beings.
(d) The power of remedy
Recitation of the Mantra of Vajrasattva is the most effective method of counteracting the storage of unskilful Karma. With these four powers we should repeat the hundred syllable Mantra at least twenty-one times daily, and continue doing so without omitting a day until we have completed at least one hundred thousand recitations. As we become more deeply involved in this practice, signs of purification will appear recurrently in dreams such as vomiting impurities, drinking milk or curd, bathing, and so forth. In daily life devotion to the Guru and to the Triple Gem, as well as concentration, will increase. By reciting this Mantra, one requests union with Vajrasattva, destroys the seeds of past unskilful Karma, and can even purify transgressions against the tantric root vows.
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